# Meerschaum lined briars



## Frogtastic (Sep 20, 2009)

Hey, I was curious as to if anyone has had any experience with meer lined briars along the lines of Inglourious Basterds.

sassafrasjunction.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/jew-hunter-pipe1. jpg

delete the space...I can't post links or pictures yet.

I can't find one online, but a local tobacco shop has similar pipes. I wanted to make sure it was a sound buy before I actually went ahead with it. If I don't buy it I'll invest in an Old Boy or a Nording natural.

thanks!


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## drastic_quench (Sep 12, 2008)

That's actually not a meerschaum-lined briar - though such a thing does exist. Landa's pipe is a large gourd calabash.

Smoking pipe (tobacco) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Frogtastic (Sep 20, 2009)

drastic_quench said:


> That's actually not a meerschaum-lined briar - though such a thing does exist. Landa's pipe is a large gourd calabash.


That makes a lot of sense. Thanks!

...well, any advice on large gourd calabash's?


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## drastic_quench (Sep 12, 2008)

pros
cool smoking
cool looking
different
all the benefits of meer, without the typical drilling problems

cons
cumbersome to smoke anywhere but home
they need their own stand
pretty small bowl for the size of the pipe
expensive
lots of shoddy and/or non-gourd ones out there
few brand names make them anymore

I don't have one myself. This is just everything I've read and looked up about them.


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## Verschnupft (Jun 15, 2009)

Be prepared to drop quite a bit on one.

Ebay has them sometimes, and is probably your best bet unless you have a $200 or so burning a hole in your pocket for a new one.


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## Brinson (Oct 28, 2007)

Yeah. from what I hear your only chance of getting one under ~$100 is ebay.


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## juni (Oct 16, 2009)

I have a meerlined pipe, I think the wood part is rosewood, certainly not briar. It was really cheap (my first pipe). Works really well, but cleaning it is cumbersome.


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## Brinson (Oct 28, 2007)

I wouldn't see the point in using briar in a meerschaum lined pipe...I mean, the briar isn't touching the tobacco, so wouldn't it make more sense to use a cheaper wood...and lets face it, there are better looking woods.


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## Rascal (Jan 29, 2010)

drastic_quench said:


> pros
> cool smoking
> cool looking
> different
> ...


I know very little about calabash pipes but every time I have considered buying one the disproportionate bowl size has always been the deal breaker. It makes an otherwise cool looking pipe seem, for the lack of a better adjective, cartoonish.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

Brinson said:


> I wouldn't see the point in using briar in a meerschaum lined pipe...I mean, the briar isn't touching the tobacco, so wouldn't it make more sense to use a cheaper wood...and lets face it, there are better looking woods.


Unless they used waste briar that wasn't fit to use otherwise


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## IKMeerschaum (Feb 8, 2007)

The original Calabash pipes were made from Calabash gourds in South Africa during the Boer war (if I recall correctly).

Nowadays, you can get them made from any number of materials besides gourds. I know we've been having a he** of a time getting good enough quality gourds out of SA these days. Every shipment has either not been suitable for pipe making or they mysteriously disappear at Turkish customs.

We've had a lot of luck with our mahogany calabash pipes. The wood is actually an african poplar that the Turks call mahogany and is somewhat porous like the calabash gourd; allowing it to color over time like a gourd would.

I have a gourd that I like but you truly need to have free hand to smoke it. Hanging the pipe from your mouth is a good way to pull your teeth right out of your head. I like it especially for reading on hot days as it does deliver a very cool smoke. The relatively small bowls mean shorter smokes; fortunately you can smoke bowls back to back to back since you won't have to let the pipe rest like a briar.

Cheapest point of entry will be an estate pipe for a gourd or a non-gourd pipe if you want a new one. Hopefully we'll have more of the latter back in stock late in the Spring.








MJG


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## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

They've got a nice estate gourd calabash on smokingpipes.com for $75. Thought some of you might be interested.

Misc. Estate Gourd Calabash With Meerschaum Bowl Pipes at Smoking Pipes .com


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

I've read in a lot of places that a real gourd calabash is very expensive now. What I haven't seen is any new ones for sale anywhere. Fine, it's expensive, I can deal with that. But I miss the one I had back in the seventies and want one again. I wish someone would stop telling me it's too expensive and sell one to me...


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## Brinson (Oct 28, 2007)

MarkC said:


> I've read in a lot of places that a real gourd calabash is very expensive now. What I haven't seen is any new ones for sale anywhere. Fine, it's expensive, I can deal with that. But I miss the one I had back in the seventies and want one again. I wish someone would stop telling me it's too expensive and sell one to me...


B-C: Calabash

Edit: Bleh, sorry, clicked buy out of curiousity and notice it is out of stock. Seen a few on ebay but they are over $200 and who knows the quality..

In stock: http://www.amazon.com/Butz-Choquin-Calabash-Tobacco-Pipe/dp/B00304PZZ8

Seems to be in stock: http://www.cascadecigar.com/butzchoquin.htm


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## IKMeerschaum (Feb 8, 2007)

MarkC said:


> I've read in a lot of places that a real gourd calabash is very expensive now. What I haven't seen is any new ones for sale anywhere. Fine, it's expensive, I can deal with that. But I miss the one I had back in the seventies and want one again. I wish someone would stop telling me it's too expensive and sell one to me...


You looking for new or estate?

We've got an estate one gourd calabash that could use a little TLC for right around $100. If you are interested, PM me and I'll shoot you a picture and the exact price. It came in the other day and we've not had the opportunity to clean it or take a picture of it.

MJG


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

I appreciate it, but I'm not too high on used pipes. But to use that as an example, it doesn't sound that high to me. If I remember right, I paid around $75 new for the one I had, but heck, that was thirty five years ago!


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## IKMeerschaum (Feb 8, 2007)

MarkC said:


> I appreciate it, but I'm not too high on used pipes. But to use that as an example, it doesn't sound that high to me. If I remember right, I paid around $75 new for the one I had, but heck, that was thirty five years ago!


No problem, I understand. Not everyone is into estate pipes. You are correct however. The pipe in question (which I just finished listing) is selling for $85 and Tom (our "senior" staff member and tobacco "mixmaster") tells me that it is a Pioneer pipe that most likely dates back to the late 70s or early 80s and would have cost the same then as we are selling it for used. Amazing what a difference inflation makes.


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